Member-only story
The Poise of The Dying Man
“Every sin is a sin against love.”
Judith Thurman, via Mary Karr
*
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve done.”
— Bryan Stevenson
*
It is those that are overly identified with the good that scare me the most. It is like they haven’t recognized any shadow within themselves. And then thinking they are blameless everything that is bad or dark gets projected out there onto someone else. They can have a really bad vision of you. And always need someone else as a scapegoat for the shadow.
— Jon Wilson
*
“Beyond meditation practice, there is attitude. A beginner must learn to cultivate what is called, “the poise of a dying man”. What is this poise? It is the poise of knowing what is important and what is not, and of being accepting and forgiving. Anyone who has ever been at the bedside of a dying man will understand this poise. What would the dying man do if someone were to insult him? Nothing. What would the dying man do if someone were to strike him? Nothing. As he lay there, would he scheme to become famous or wealthy? No. If someone who had once offended him were to ask him for his forgiveness would he not give it? Of course he would. A dying man knows the pointlessness of enmity. Hatred…
